Fairfax County’s school board wants voters to weigh in on a sales tax increase that leaders said could help expedite the renovation process for campuses across the Northern Virginia suburb.
The board indicated its support for the idea during its meeting Thursday, unanimously approving a plan asking the Board of Supervisors to consider the possible benefits.
The step comes weeks after Virginia’s General Assembly passed its budget, which included a provision allowing local jurisdictions to hold a referendum to increase the sales tax by 1%. If voters sign off, the extra revenue would be used in Fairfax County for school renovation and construction projects.
“Every year, this board confronts aging buildings, deferred maintenance, rising construction costs and the growing gap between what our students deserve and what our capital funding can support, while ensuring Fairfax County maintains its AAA bond rating,” board member Karl Frisch said. “We have a responsibility to be good stewards of tax dollars while thinking creatively about how we meet those challenges.”
There’s a $400 million deferred maintenance backlog in Fairfax, school officials said. While the county’s policy is to renovate school grounds every 25 years, it has operated under a 42-year renovation cycle.
Virginia has previously allowed some rural counties to let voters weigh in on the possibility of increasing the sales tax. The nine jurisdictions where voters signed off have collected about $119 million combined, .
While the Fairfax County School Board is advocating for the referendum, the idea is unlikely to reach the ballot in the near term.
“Now is not the right time,” said Jeff McKay, who chairs the county’s Board of Supervisors. In a statement, he said he wouldn’t support a referendum this year, in part because of the rising costs families are facing.
“This enabling authority was only granted by the General Assembly a few weeks ago,” McKay also said. “It has not yet been reviewed by our Board or vetted with the public. That input is an important part of the process, and doing it right takes time. I do not support rushing that process this year.”
Through a spokeswoman, Prince William County Board of Supervisors Chair Deshundra Jefferson said she didn’t have any comment on the possibility of a referendum.
Phyllis Randall, chair of Loudoun County’s Board of Supervisors, told Â鶹¹ÙÍø that she’d support allowing voters to consider the possibility.
However, she said, “Personally, I don’t want to see a sales tax increase right now. Financial times are very, very tough.”
The board isn’t expected to discuss the idea during its final meeting before August’s break, Randall said.
Arlington, meanwhile, is considering a referendum, .
In Fairfax, school board member Mateo Dunne said there’s a need for “thinking outside the box” to help expedite the renovation process.
“Realistically, we need to update our electrical, our HVAC, our plumbing and other infrastructure far more frequently, including playgrounds and asphalt parking lots, because they don’t last as long as 25 years without updates,” Dunne said.
Fellow board member Melanie Meren said a referendum is a chance to ask the public if they want to invest in schools.
“This is relief from the relentless use of homeowner tax to fill the gap from the state to fund our public school facilities that benefit all Fairfax residents, whether they have children in schools or not,” Meren said.
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